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Fisheries
Global fish stocks are under growing pressure, with FAO stating that over a third are now overfished, threatening ocean health.
A new film featuring Theo James and Stephen Fry reveals the staggering scale of bycatch generated by bottom trawling.
Sylvia Earle and Benedict Cumberbatch have joined a major campaign urging an immediate halt to krill fishing in Antarctica.
Norway has rejected the EU’s proposed blue whiting quota allocation, prompting overfishing concerns.
UK Overseas Territories
A UN panel has urged the UK to renegotiate the Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius.
The UK has secured a political agreement with the EU to protect Gibraltar‘s British sovereignty, ensure UK military autonomy, and secure its economic future by eliminating border checks with Spain.
Bermuda fishermen have been encouraged to fish on calm days to avoid attracting protected seabirds.
Marine Protection
At the 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice, world leaders made bold and timely commitments as we reach the midpoint of the UN Ocean Decade, including a collective call for a global pause on deep sea mining. The UK announced plans to ban bottom trawling in 41 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), covering 30,000km2, a move backed by the Environmental Audit Committee and environmental campaigners. The UK also pledged to ratify the High Seas Treaty by the end of the year, joining 19 other countries who announced their ratifications at UNOC. French Polynesia unveiled plans to create the world’s largest networks of MPAs, meanwhile, Tanzania designated two new MPAs, and Chile announced the expansion of Juan Fernández MPA. Those are just a few of the highlights, see more here.
Conservation
Emperor penguin populations in Antarctica have declined by nearly 22 per cent over the past 15 years, as global warming rapidly alters their icy habitat. Researchers have sounded the alarm, warning that the losses are significantly worse than previously believed.
A sea farm in Maine discovered that growing kelp alongside shellfish can locally reduce ocean acidification, offering a natural way to protect marine life.
A UK startup is turning people and pets’ ashes into artificial reefs to help restore sea life, with plans to create its first reef near Plymouth by 2027.
Researchers are increasingly concerned after the 18th gray whale has died in California this year, with experts uncertain about the cause behind the spike in fatalities. Meanwhile, rescue teams are searching for a humpback whale entangled in a drum line off Sydney’s coast.
The death of a tagged juvenile great white shark on a shark-catching drum line in South Africa has reignited debate, while a new study has found that most shark trophies sold online come from endangered sharks.
Climate Crisis
Climate change has caused record-breaking heat waves in Iceland and Greenland and is worsening ocean dead zones, harming marine life and coastal communities. Meanwhile, mangroves face threats from rising sea levels and stronger cyclones, putting vital ecosystems and biodiversity at risk. Urgent action is also needed to address forest resilience which is vital for ecological, economic, and social stability.
The UK government’s latest Spending Review, allocates over £60 billion to the green economy, with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero receiving a 16% budget increase, the largest boost of any department. Meanwhile, significant cuts to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have raised concerns about funding for nature conservation.
Plastics
Nearly 100 countries at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice called for an ambitious agreement in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations to effectively tackle plastic pollution.
Misc
See this week’s wildlife photos.
“What we have done to the deep ocean floor is just unspeakably awful. If you did anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms.”
“The ocean is not for sale. We’re talking about a common shared good. I think it’s madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it.”
“The deep sea cannot become the Wild West.”
“We have to shift how people relate to Antarctica. It’s absolutely essential to protect it, not just for itself, which is obviously valid, but also for humanity.”
“Jaws really enabled widespread persecution of sharks. Jaws meant that there was no room for a conversation about conserving sharks. If we talked about them at all, it was about how they should be killed.”
